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1.23.2009

This is the first weekend that Brett and I will be apart since we tied the knot... and to be quite honest... it sucks. Brett is traveling with his team this weekend to New Mexico for a big track invitational. While I am really excited for him, I am also being totally selfish and wishing he could just be with me. I'm sure being apart will be easier when we are both super busy competing at meets... at least I hope so.

He's been gone for a little over an hour and a half and I am already antsy for him to come home. Anyway, sitting here missing him got me thinking about the all the things I miss. I am a big fan of lists, so here comes a list of things I miss.

1. Brett

I know I know, I spent 2 years missing him so I should be used to it by now... But after spending every spare moment together for a month, even a few hours apart feels like an eternity. The things I miss in particular about Brett are his dimples, his sweet kisses, his calm and reassuring voice, and his gentle protecting arms. While he is gone I don't know how I am going to be able to fall asleep without him next to me. I am also going to miss teasing him and making him laugh so hard he cries.

2. Chelsey Kaplar

Chelsey Kaplar is my best friend, teammate, and was my roomie for most of college. I still see her almost everyday for track, but it's just not the same. Chelsey has the most infectious laugh and genuinely loves life. We have one of those relationships where we can meet eyes and know exactly what the other person is thinking. It can make for some awkward moments for other people, because no one can really follow our humor. I miss our dance parties, staying up late talking, Chelsey's waffles w/ peanut butter, sledding at 3 am in trash cans, teasing her for her hour long showers, and "just lookin' at ya." Marriage is the shiz, but I still really miss my roomie.

3. Camp Starlight

So for those of you who don't know, I worked at a Jewish camp during summer 2007. Kinda random I know... but it was such an amazing experience and I made friendships that will last the rest of my life.

I can't even begin to describe how much I miss my camp friends. Especially Jackie Sedore, Kali and Danya Foster, and Katie Tillis.

I miss the Danya and Kali for their fun and outgoing personalities and laundry nights. They kept me going through camp and made even the most minuscule tasks or getting lost... somehow fun! :)

I miss Katie Tillis and her Katie-isms like "question of the day," "what is it... what is it?" and quoting our "favorite camper".... "I don't eat cheese... This place is a death camp... and I'm allergic to cats."

And Ms. Jackie Sedore. I can't even begin to describe how much I miss Jackie Sedore. I miss our Deep and Meaningfuls and our walks. I miss having someone to cry with and talk to about everything. I miss her crazy laugh and tubing down the river. I miss being old ladies and sharing knitting patterns. I miss writing notes like we were in Jr. High. I miss having someone who didn't even know Brett root for him and be such a support to me through the time he was away. (You too Danya. :)

I miss my girls! All 10 of them. I spent a summer being Mom to 10 of the most amazing 10 year olds, and it's been a year and a half since I have seen or talked to them. I miss braiding their hair and singing them lullabys at night. I miss playing sports and dancing with them. I miss being silly and making them laugh. I miss waking up to them climbing up my bunk bed waiting for me to wake up in the morning. I miss Love Shack, "Haiilleee I can't poop", shake your napkin, taking care of them when they were sick, talking one on one with them when they were having a hard time, swimming with them for their swim tests, fruit break, and having three or more of them sit on my lap at night activities because they couldn't compromise. I miss hearing them say, "I love you" and I miss hugging them at random points in the day.

To all the girls of Bunk 9... I miss you!!! I Love you!!! And I am so proud of you!

So I am going to post this now... even though I have like 10 more people to add... and I started this this morning... but for now I will just leave it here with some more names to come.

4. My Mom

5. My Dad

6. The Siblings

7. Neices and Nephews

8. Ashley Patterson

9. Jessica "Suddababy"

10. Kim... the Ertel Turtle

if you are not on my list that does not mean that I do not miss you... This is just one list for one day highlighting just a few of my MANY favorite people. If you are reading this... chances are I LOVE you and MISS you. Promise. :)

1.07.2009

Here is the link to our bridals! We had the amazing opportunity to work with two very talented photographers, Julie Harman and Scott Jarvie. Two weeks before the big day we all met up at East High School and shot some really creative photos. We also shot some more artsy ones down near Pier Pont. We had an absolute blast and I couldn't imagine better photos or a more beautiful day! Thanks Scott and Julie!

It's funny whenever someone asks when we first met. The truth is that we first met during our Sophomore year of high school but our first conversation and date wasn't until college.

I don't remember the very first time I saw Brett, but we both remember the names Haley McAllister and Brett Birkeland being called from the press box at EHS at the local track meets. We were always rivals. Brett ran for Olympus and I ran for East and in the summers he ran for Mercury while I ran for the Cheetahs. I remember watching Brett long jump and talking with my coach about his jumping form. Brett apparently thought I was out of his league so he never talked to me, and I took his not talking to me as him being full of himself, so nothing ever happened in high school. Pity. It is amusing to look through our track and field photos from high school ,because 9 times out of 10 he is in the background of my photos. I can't believe he was right under my nose the whole time.

Track brought us back together again when we saw one another at the BYU indoor meet in January of 2006. True to form, we were still rivals, but this time I was wearing the UTAH red while Brett wore the BYU blue.

One thing lead to another, and after months of flirting and quoting Audrey Hepburn movies, we finally went on our first date on April 20, 2006.

We went to the place where we first saw each other years before, at the EHS track. We climbed on top of the pressbox, equipped with Twizzlers, Hershey Kisses, caramel corn and my lap top. We watched the sunset and after I killed Brett in a few rounds of Egyptian Rat, we watched Roman Holiday (after all, we had been quoting it for a few months.)

After that night we were hooked. :) We spent every waking moment together that summer... going to the zoo, talking at the park, going for walks, laughing at nothing, dancing in the moonlight, and stargazing... until the time came for Brett to serve the Lord in Canada!

Brett lived in Canada for 2 years as a full time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was braving the freezing winters there while I ran Track and Field and worked at a Jewish Camp (go figure.)

We wrote every week and kept one another's spirits high with cards, tapes, and incredibly well thought out packages.

Brett served in many different areas. At one point he was in Sept Iles, 700 miles north east of Montreal. Then he spent a significant amount of time in the heart of Montreal working primarily with Haitians. He had a wonderful time speaking their language and learning from their happy and relaxed attitude.

We had wonderful experiences while apart, but couldn't have waited another day to see each other once again :)

First of all, Brett's flight was canceled because of thunderstorms! So I had to wait an entire day longer... His family was improperly notified of the time of his new flight, so Brett actually came home and no one was there to greet him! Poor guy! and then because he got in on the 24th, his Stake Pres was out of town, so he wasn't even released until the next afternoon. So, let me tell you, even when I thought I was completely calm and that the last day wouldn't be a problem, God decided to test my patience one last time.

Brett finally called me after he was released and we decided to meet at his brother and sister in law's house (Brian and Angie, they are a couple we hung out with very often before he left, and I got very close with them while he was away... so it was a perfect way to meet up around people we really care about and are comfortable with.) I was still pretty calm considering waiting an extra day... but as soon as I got to the stop light before their house my heart was doing somersaults in my chest.

I ran up to the house wearing my "Hello Brett" outfit and Brett's Brother was sitting on the porch with a camera and this big smile on his face and said, "Hey Beautiful, pose for the camera!"... and all I could think to say was... "Where is he!!!" haha... so I was just standing there in the front yard looking around with no clue where he was. "Where is he!" I was smiling so big, but I was starting to get antsy. The door opens... and out comes... Angie... Brett's sister-in-law... I was officially getting flustered... I was literally jumping up and down...

Then I finally heard (in the voice that makes me melt) the words, "There you are..." from my right. And there he was... walking along the side of the house holding a sunflower. I couldn't contain my excitement. We both cleared the gap between us in a flash (we both run college track) and I almost took him out. I wrapped by arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around me, holding my waist and side in a big bear hug. We just stood there and hugged and smiled. I don't remember anything that was said, and I forgot Brian and Angie were even there, but they got some really cute pics of us together. After a few minutes they asked us to turn for a photo... but we didn't want to stop hugging. Hahaha... So we both just turned sideways within the hug.

I didn't let go of him for the first hour at least, whether we were hugging, holding hands, or had our arms around each other. it was like I was reminding myself he was actually right there. It was so surreal because we hadn't seen one another in so long that it felt like everything before was just a dream... and then all of a sudden the dream came back to reality.

That feeling didn't last long though, within 15 minutes or so it felt like he had never left and I wondered how on earth I had survived the last two years without him. There are still times when we are together that we both just say... "I can't believe you are right there..."

We've loved just talking and being near one another again. My favorite first nights were spent on our park bench in the lamp light, laughing and telling stories. I said one of those first nights, "Can you believe we made it this far?"... he smiled and said, "I always knew we would."

The following was written by Brett for our wedding blog about our engagement. I thought it would be nice to post it on here as well.

The official engagement took place October 20th, but had been in the planning stages for quite some time. This Monday evening was our 2.5 year anniversary (including a 2-year stint of seperation) and dates have always been important and special to us. We love to find a reason to celebrate, so we jumped at this occasion. I asked Haley if she would like to go to the pressbox at EHS, the location of our first date, and recreate the whole thing. She gladly accepted, and we started planning it all out. We would watch Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn, eat Twizzlers and Hershey Kisses, and watch the sunset. I showed up to pick her up around 6:30 pm, we hurriedly got our things together and fled to our beloved pressbox. The ring was stashed away in a bag that I allowed her to carry. (It killed her when she found out) Upon arriving on top, we took a few pictures, recreating the pictures we took 2.5 years prior to that night. I knew I needed to do it soon for a few reasons, one; the sun was setting and she needed to be able to see the ring, and two; I was so nervous I didn't know what to do with myself. She gave me a beautiful card, full of affectionate words. While she was sitting down I told her to close her eyes while I got her gift ready. When I said "open," her high hopes were crushed a little as she saw me holding a card with her name on it. I told her it would make more sense if she stood up, so she followed my instruction and stood up. While she read my little note I casually reached down to the bag, and donned my jacket. She finished the card, I smiled, we embraced, and I told her I loved her. I could sense the curiosity in her, and I knew that it was the time. I quickly dropped to one knee, whipped the ring box out of my left coat pocket, and while looking her in the eyes, asked "Haley Jaye McAllister. Will you marry me?" She started to get teary-eyed, then smiled and laughed, and with a big smile responded "YES!" She was antsy to get it on her finger, so I gently slid the vintage-style ring onto that special finger of her left hand. We both looked at the striking combination of the ring and her hand, and knowing what it represented, kissed each other and basked in a moment that will never be forgotten. We then proceeded to take a few pictures, in order to remember well that evening. Then phone calls were made to family and friends announcing the good news that, "IT'S OFFICIAL!" And so goes the tale of our engagment.